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Jeff Borzello, ESPN Staff Writer
Kentucky transfer D.J. Wagner, a former top-five recruit, has committed to Arkansas, sources told ESPN.
Wagner becomes the sixth player or prospect to follow John Calipari from Kentucky to Arkansas. Adou Thiero and Zvonimir Ivisic also transferred from Lexington to Fayetteville, while recruits Boogie Fland, Karter Knox and Billy Richmond flipped their commitments.
Calipari stunned the college basketball world in early April, when the Hall of Fame coach left Kentucky after 15 seasons to replace Eric Musselman at SEC rival Arkansas.
A 6-foot-4 guard from Camden, New Jersey, Wagner entered the portal in mid-April and had a quiet recruitment. He took only two visits, to USC and Arkansas.
The son of former high school phenom and NBA player Dajuan Wagner, D.J. Wagner was considered the top player in the 2023 class for much of his high school career.
He ended his high school career ranked No. 4 in the ESPN 100 and entered Kentucky with first-round NBA draft expectations. After a couple of early 20-point efforts against Saint Joseph’s and Marshall, however, he was inconsistent on the offensive end.
He finished his freshman season averaging 9.9 points and 3.3 assists.
Wagner is now reunited with both coaches — Calipari and Kenny Payne, now an assistant at Arkansas — that recruited him heavily coming out of high school. Calipari had coached Wagner’s father at Memphis, while Payne, then the head coach at Louisville, played with Wagner’s grandfather Milt on Louisville’s 1986 national championship team.
With the addition of Wagner, Arkansas will likely enter the 2024-25 season ranked in the top 15 nationally. Along with the Kentucky transfers and former commits, Calipari also landed two of the best players in the portal: Florida Atlantic transfer Johnell Davis, the AAC Player of the Year, and Tennessee transfer Jonas Aidoo, an All-SEC selection.
Wagner’s decision was first reported by the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette.